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“Eat, yes. But I can’t let you leave. My sister would want you here. Think about that.” He stepped back from Mary as I slowly slid on my shoes. Damn, I wasn’t going to bounce back from this like I had the others. My ribs ached and I knew they’d cracked a few with the chest compressions. Not to mention, my arm was still sore from Lily catching the back of my elbow. Pain meds. That’s what I needed. Whatever I was given in the hospital had long since worn off.
Slade walked me to the door, pushing my wallet into my hand. I didn’t want to know how he’d gotten it. “Don’t do anything stupid, Zain. Food, and then you come back. My sister doesn’t need anything else to worry about. If she’s able to call back, I want you here.”
All I could do was nod. He was right in that regard. I needed to talk to Lily.
“I’ll be right back.” I opened the door, meeting Marcio head on. His narrowed expression eased and he reached into his jacket, pulling a gun out. My heart jumped and the memory of the explosion rang out in my ears, leaving my chest cramping.
“You might want this.” His hand lifted and the anxieties lessoned the moment I gripped the handle.
“Thank you.”
“Been there,” he said, under his breath. “So, where are we going?”
Slade stepped out into the entrance with us, shutting the door behind him. “Deli on the corner and right back,” he said, taking over. “Then, we come up with a plan to settle things with his family once and for all.”
Our eyes met and the pull I felt toward him grew. Somehow, he understood me more than I could process, and I liked that. Tonight, I’d end things and find out if they had Lily. It was time to wipe my slate clean of everything bad from my past.
My hand gripped the gun tighter just before I lifted my shirt and placed it against my hip.
“Holy shit.” Slade reached out, pulling the material up just past my belly button. It took everything I had not to reach out and crush his wrist. “What the fuck are all those scars from?”
I ripped the shirt down. Even all the tattoos I had covering my stomach, chest, and back, couldn’t hide what my father had had done to me. The scars from the whip had been deep and covered from below my neck, down to my knees.
“Punishments throughout life, Slade. Most from before I turned fifteen. After that, no one would get near me if they valued their life. It was exactly what my father had intended when he started my training. The killer he created will soon be the executioner he’ll face. And I look forward to it.”
The room grew silent, only to be disrupted by the ding of the elevator. Brace stepped out, pausing as he looked at us.
“Great. Thanks, Brace.” Slade strode forward, as if we hadn’t just discussed the pain of my past. The powerful strides had him getting to his guard and taking the crackers in three steps. When he turned and met my eyes, understanding was there. And so was anger. Maybe we did share something I wasn’t aware of. Had he gone through something similar with his father? Had he at least been on bad terms with him?
I walked forward, relaxing at the weight in my waistband. Marcio stepped in behind me as we nodded to Lily’s brother and got on the elevator. The moment the doors closed, he looked over, shaking his head.
“I knew you were dangerous the first time I met you. You can’t hide that sort of energy. It follows you around like an invisible mass. Only people similar to you can feel the threat. I felt it when we met as far back as that party.”
My head nodded as he pressed the lobby button. “Like for like, I suppose. I felt it from you, too.”
“So, you’re gonna kill your dad? Is that plan?”
The way my skin crawled had me rotating my neck. I reached my palm up to run over it, easing the tension as my fingers gripped the side of my throat.
“He doesn’t deserve to live after what he’s done. If I don’t stop him, a lot of girls are going to suffer and probably die. I made a vow to Lily and I have every intention of following through.”
A deep exhale was followed by him clenching his jaw. “I know Boss is already going to put out the order, but I’m with you, regardless. Nothing would give me more pleasure than putting a stop to operations like the one that took Lily. I…watched her grow. She was such a sweet girl before she was taken. When she came back…” his head shook. “It’s like I didn’t even know her. I’m not sure the horrors she lived through, but it left its mark on who she was. No one should have the power to ruin a person that way. If it hadn’t of been for you, or Lily’s spirit, she’d have been worse. I’m glad you were there to protect her.”
My stomach turned and flashes of our lives together nearly made me sick. Two people, confined to a room almost all day and night to escape the cruelty behind my door was almost suffocating. But there were times I couldn’t save her and those were usually when I wasn’t there. My Lily’s heart was too big. A girl in need had her facing her fears…and ultimately paying a price she couldn’t handle on the inside…like our child’s life. She was never the same after that.
“When Lily is returned…” Not if, but when, I made myself say, “I’ll be heading back to my father’s home. I have uncles there who need to pay just as much. I need you to make sure she’s kept safe.”
The doors opened, but neither of us moved. Our eyes locked and his head gave a quick jerk down. “On my life. I will make sure she never gets hurt again.”
“Me, too,” I said under my breath. And I would. Lily was never going to have to worry about another thing again. Once I eliminated the immediate threats, no one with ill intentions would ever dare think about coming near her again. I’d be there if they did.
Chapter 17
Lily
“Go on. Hold on to her arm, you know you want to.”
A tear streamed down my face as I looked between the wooden arm of the chair where I was tied to Alec’s pale face. He’d lost so much blood already. I couldn’t stop my heart from breaking at seeing the torture he was going through before me. I wanted nothing more than to comfort him with words, but with my mouth gagged with cloth, all I could do was plead with my eyes for forgiveness. If he wouldn’t have become involved with me, if he wouldn’t have been nice to me, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.
